“The term guerrilla gardening might scare off some people, but the practice has a long history of both radical and community-building tactics. Liz Christy and the Green Guerrillas transformed an abandoned lot in NYC’s Bowery during the 1970′s, and the movement has gained momentum in recent years. Many “resistance gardeners” consider themselves to be vandals of sorts, but with plants or seeds as weapons; often operating covertly at night in empty lots or on public property that would otherwise remain barren.

The phenomenon of guerrilla gardening is sweeping the globe as folks are finding innovative ways to come together for the optimization of neglected land and paved surface area. It’s a turf war for some, a poetic gesture for others, but either way, citizens are rolling up their sleeves to create gardens in the most unlikely spaces.

The Guerilla Gardening website has a friendly-though-subversive sort of tone, as it has gone from tracking the activities of ‘illicit cultivation around London’ to being a ‘growing arsenal for anyone who is interested in waging war against the neglect of public space.’ It focuses on reclamation, beautification, and even growing food in public spaces (a political act in and of itself as we re-educate ourselves about viable land use, especially with the very real possibility of worldwide food shortages).”